Celebratin’

Yesterday was Sue’s birthday. We take birthdays seriously in this house so a feast was prepared.

Champagne in the garden was gatecrashed first by Steffi (by invitation) and then, before we could hide the bottle, by Jay & Gill (boomerangs & bakers). But it was jolly nice to see them – he said through gritted teeth.

The crab cakes didn’t last long enough to be photographed but they were simple and good.

The piece de resistance was Rosca de Camerones en Escabeche:layers of rice, salsa tipica and prawns

But what excited me most was a recipe I found for Pastis, a sourdough raised cake (bread?) for South West France:Overnight starter based on milk. Five eggs, butter, sugar, vanilla, and a splash of Ricard in the dough. Five and a half hours prove. Plus a vanilla syrup poured over the hot cake as it came out of the oven and allowed to soak in. Plus a sprinkling of pearl sugar.I was very pleased with myself. Really moist and not too sweet – the cake that is.